how to catch a flat head

i live by the shanango river and i know there are some monster flatheads in there and i wan2 catch one but how? never caught one i heard they only go for live bait but idk what bait should i use and what should i look for? any help would be awesome thanks

Even though I always have a rod out w a big live bait most flatheads I caught last year came on fresh cut blue gill heads. Don't get me wrong, everyone says live is the way to go but its not always a necessity. TypicAlly you wanna,look for somewhat slow shallow flat near deeper water at night. Big hooks I use,4/0 to 8/0 depending in bait size. And a slip sinker rig. You should get em. I like to let them run w it for a few seconds before setting the hook . good luck post your results please

when i was younger i used to go to local bait shops and ask if i could have there dead shiners. Most of the time they gave them to me. I had a lot of luck with these baits. Just cut them in half and chuck'em out. Blue gills work great also. Dead or Alive. Good luck.

thanks for all the help yall im gona give er a shot here pretty soon ill post some pics if i get that hoss

all good point's here!! this time of year i fish for two fish flatheads and bait and everything is bait from 4in to 18in so don't be afaraid to throw a 12+ white, rock or smallie out there, live or dead. go to any strip mine up there and load up on gills and such and if you find green sunfish catch as many as you can some of the best live bait, very feisty and don't mind a hook in there back..lol. also big heads of anything have worked well with me in the past.if your going to use cut bait make sure it's fresh, not stinky there not like channels...FRESH..FRESH..BAIT. i had a run last year on a 17in smallie i had just caught messing around with a crankbait and hooked his****up and chunked 'em out, the flatty ran me in a snagg and snaped off. just saying there is no such thing as too big of bait. good luck and take some pix, the spillway up there always put's out a top 5 big fish of the year, it's a nice spot wish i still lived up there.

yes sharpsville. i use to talk to a guy that fishs for flats there and use to do very well, for the life of me can't rember what fourm that was on, hell maybe here..lol. just rember seeing his pix had quit abit of 20's and 30's..thats lbs not inches. a heavy action rod is nice for flats so you can get them out of snaggs before the bury themselfs, they seem to know where ther are and run right for them. down here i use my surf gear with braid up to 100lb's...good luck and get out there before they spawn which is getting close...tight lines moose

her's a dink from tonight..only 9lb's.